Cork Food Festival 2012
A new way to taste sherry
Clear blue skies and sunshine + plenty of good food = lots of happy people at yesterday’s opening of the Cork Food Festival in Fitzgerald’s Park.
It’s on until Sunday, with admission a reasonable €12, kids go free and there’s and no faffing about with tokens to pay for your food. If you head along, here are a few things you might want to check out:
- Springfort Hall’s slow-cooked beef (€6), which came with with barley, samphire and chunks of Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms.
- caffeinating yourself with Gusto.
- mackerel (€4) from Hayfield Manor, cooked so the skin was blistered and richness offset with little spiced gooseberry flavour bombs.
- trying to pour a glass of sherry at the Ballymaloe House stall – Colm’s video makes it look far easier than you might think! – and tasting the intense, rich Apostoles Palo Cortado sherry.
- ham hock terrine as part of the 12 mile plate (€7) from Midleton’s Sage, using pork from Woodside Farm. You might need to sip on some elderflower lemonade (€2) to complete the local experience.
- melt-in-your-mouth Iberico ham at Electric.
- Bite Size Catering were selling irresistible, beautifully presented mix-and-match canape boxes which had heads turning all over the park.
- make sure you pick up a selection of goodies for keeping the stay-at-home crew happy: Glenilen Farm had neat little cool bags which it was all too easy to fill with yoghurts, pannacotta and cheesecake, topping that off with nitrate-free rashers, black pudding and sausages from McCarthy’s of Kanturk and a sneeky bag of Danucci‘s Salted Caramels.
- a glass of fizz in the sunshine. You know it’s the way to go.
Kevin from Electric talks Iberico
A closer look at that sherry at Ballymaloe House
In case you should feel like flagging
Time to eat – Greene’s tasting platter
Tasty take home treats from McCarthy’s of Kanturk, Glenilen and Danucci
Going home time
Thanks to my sister Triona for paying for my ticket – and sorry for stealing the camera!
